UCLA's Norman Powell slips past USC's Darion Clark to make a pass during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Katin Reinhardt shoots during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against UCLA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Elijah Stewart shoots above UCLA's Gyorgy Goloman, left, and David Brown (13) during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Katin Reinhardt, left, Darion Clark, center, and Julian Jacobs show their frustration from the bench during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against UCLA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Katin Reinhardt, Darion Clark and Julian Jacobs show their frustration from the bench during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against UCLA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Chass Bryan tries to steal the ball from UCLA's Isaac Hamilton during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA's Isaac Hamilton, left, drives into USC's Chass Bryan during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

USC's Katin Reinhardt, left, and Darion Clark show their frustration on the bench during the final minutes of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against UCLA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. UCLA won, 96-70, to go 3-0 against the Trojans this season.

UCLA's Thomas Welsh, left, battles for the ball with USC's Nikola Jovanovic, center, and Malik Martin during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA coach Steve Alford shows some emotion during Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against USC at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. UCLA improved to 3-0 against USC this season with a 96-70 victory and will face top-seeded Arizona in Friday night's semifinals.

UCLA's Norman Powell goes up for a dunk during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against USC at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA coach Steve Alford speaks with his players as they come off the floor for a timeout during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against USC at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA's Kevon Looney shoots over USC's Nikola Jovanovic during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Looney left the game after taking an elbow to the face and did not play in the second half.

UCLA's Tony Parker drives to the basket as USC's Julian Jacobs tries to defend during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA's Norman Powell tries to shoot over USC's Elijah Stewart during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA's Thomas Welsh goes for a layup in front of USC's Darion Clark during the first half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against USC at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

UCLA's Isaac Hamilton, left, celebrates with teammate Noah Allen after scoring during the second half of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Hamilton scored a career-high 36 points to lead the Bruins just days after his grandmother passed away.

USC coach Andy Enfield signals to his players during Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against UCLA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Enfield's Trojans ended their season at 12-20 after a 96-70 loss to the Bruins.

LAS VEGAS – As soon as Isaac Hamilton stepped onto the court Thursday, moments before the most dominant offensive performance of his UCLA career, he closed his eyes and whispered a prayer.

It was for his grandmother, Lucine, who, four days prior to to the Bruins’ 96-70 dismantling of USC in Thursday’s Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal, passed away due to complications from bone cancer. Losing his grandmother devastated Hamilton, who had been particularly close to her, spending every free day he could at her side. Under his breath, he asked for strength.

Hamilton’s first season in a UCLA uniform already had been difficult. His confidence wavered from game to game. He was too timid at times and too reckless at others. At one point in the season, he knocked down just 12 of 52 shots over six games.

But Thursday, in the midst of one of the most emotional weeks of his life, it was a different Hamilton who took the floor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. After praying for an answer, the redshirt freshman turned in an otherworldly performance against the Trojans, one that rivaled any in the Pac-12 this season.

He hit 3-pointers from the corner and from the top of the key. He hit on floaters and coming off of pick-and-rolls. He hit so consistently and confidently from the field that when he pulled up for a corner 3 midway through the second half and airballed – the fates reminding him that, yes, he can still miss – UCLA coach Steve Alford laughed and shook his head.

“He had that feeling where the basket was like an ocean,” said point guard Bryce Alford, who added seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists. “Any time he touched it, if he had any opening, he was going to make it.”

By halftime, he had 18 points. By midway through the second half, he had 33, as USC’s defense finally resigned to throw as many defenders at him as possible. When the game was finally out of reach, Hamilton went to the bench to a standing ovation, having finished 13-of-17 from the field and 7-of-9 from 3-point range for 36 points – the most by a UCLA player since Dijon Thompson scored 39 in 2005.

“You feel free,” said Hamilton, who shot 38 percent for the season and hadn’t scored 20 points in a game since November. “You feel like every shot is going in.”

It was a feeling to which the rest of UCLA’s offense could relate. The Bruins (20-12) shot 60 percent from the field and from 3-point range – the latter of which was, not surprisingly, a season high. It was an offensive showing reminiscent of the start of UCLA’s Pac-12 Tournament run last year, when it shot 57 and 65 percent in its first two wins in Las Vegas.

USC, meanwhile, could do little else but let the cards fall as they may, as Coach Andy Enfield fell to 0-5 against UCLA. After upsetting Arizona State for their first postseason win in four years, the Trojans (12-20) shot a decent 44 percent from the floor and even got solid performances from Katin Reinhardt (7 for 11, 20 points) and Nikola Jovanovic (7 for 11, 17 points), but again turned the ball over too often (18 times). With each push, Hamilton and the UCLA offense responded, extending the lead.

Less than 24 hours after USC point guard Julian Jacobs talked of keeping UCLA out of the NCAA Tournament, USC had resuscitated its rival’s inconsistent offense.

Whether that kind of run can again push UCLA through to the Pac-12 Tournament final is another question entirely. The victory sets up a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Arizona (29-3) – a game that could very well decide UCLA’s NCAA Tournament fate.

Another obstacle in the way: the already-thin Bruins could be down a vital contributor. Freshman forward Kevon Looney left Thursday’s game with a facial injury and a dark bruise under his left eye, and left the arena after halftime for a CT scan. UCLA did not provide an update on his status.

Without him, UCLA will be hard-pressed to compete with Arizona’s dominant frontcourt, which leads the nation in defensive rebounding rate. In their one regular-season meeting in Tucson, UCLA stayed competitive but managed just 47 points.

The Bruins need more than that, possibly without their best rebounder, if they are to knock off the nation’s fifth-ranked team. But what UCLA may lose in Looney, it could gain in a surging Hamilton, who, as he left the floor, thought again of his grandmother, who had lived in the very city he’d set ablaze with Thursday’s shooting display.

Ryan Kartje is a sports features reporter, with a special focus on the NFL and college sports. He has worked for the Orange County Register since 2012, when he was hired as UCLA beat writer. His enterprise work on the rise and fall of the daily fantasy sports industry (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/industry-689093-fantasy-daily.html) was honored in 2015 with an Associated Press Sports Editors’ enterprise award in the highest circulation category. His writing has also been honored by the Football Writers Association of America and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ryan worked for the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times and Fox Sports Wisconsin, before moving out west to live by the beach and eat copious amounts of burritos.

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